The invention relates to apparatus for controlling the dispensing of a liquid from a container and more particularly to the dispensing of a liquid, such as wine, from a bottle, wherein liquid remaining in an unsealed bottle is subject to air contamination or degradation.
Conventional dispensing devices include a stopper or other seal device adapted to be removably attached to the neck of a bottle and fitted with a pour spout and an air vent device or a pump device serving to assist in the discharge of liquid through the pour spout. A drawback of this type of dispensing device is that air entering the bottle, as an incident to the dispensing of a portion of its contents, contacts and contaminates or degrades liquid remaining within the bottle.
It has also been proposed to prevent air contamination of liquid remaining in an unsealed bottle by fitting a stopper with a manually inflatable bladder sized to occupy a portion of the interior of the bottle with a view towards displacing air therefrom through a suitable vent located in the stopper. These devices suffer the drawback that they must be removed from the bottle each time liquid is to be dispensed and are thus wholly inoperative for protecting remaining contents of the bottle, while it is left standing in an open condition.